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Treating everyone well, from the cab driver to the receptionist, could be the secret that helps you land your next job.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At the Semafor World Economy Summit<\/a> earlier this week, Southwest Airlines CEO Bob Jordan described interviewing someone for a \u201cvery senior position\u201d who nailed the formal conversations with executives. On paper and in the room, the candidate looked like a clear frontrunner.<\/p>\n But after the interview, Jordan\u2019s team compared notes on how the candidate behaved with everyone they encountered. The team discovered that while the person treated executives well, they were dismissive and rude to the receptionist in Southwest\u2019s building. That single data point was enough for the airline to pass on the candidate.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThey did not get the job because they treated one group of folks one way, and they treated that receptionist another way,\u201d Jordan said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Jordan described Southwest\u2019s culture as one that prizes people who are \u201clow ego\u201d and who \u201cseek to serve others before they serve themselves.\u201d In his view, those traits eventually reveal themselves in how a person treats everyone, not just the people they think matter.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou can tell when somebody is not a fit,\u201d he said, emphasizing that the hiring process is designed to surface these moments.<\/p>\n Southwest is famously selective. Even before the pandemic, it hired fewer than 2% of applicants, according to the Harvard Business Review<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Executives at the airline have framed culture as a competitive advantage<\/a>, arguing that employees who genuinely embody its values are what make Southwest a place people want to work<\/a> and fly.<\/p>\n Jordan also connected culture to business outcomes. He said Southwest \u201cgo[es] overboard treating our employees like family,\u201d because that\u2019s the only way to ensure the same spirit flows down to passengers.<\/p>\n Earlier this month, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby revealed his new way to determine if job candidates are a good cultural fit for the airline. In a podcast interview<\/a> with McKinsey chief Bob Sternfels, Kirby explained that he asks a handpicked group of pilots to shadow candidates all day and decide if they would want to spend a four-day trip with them. The pilots get veto power when it comes to hiring, even over technically qualified candidates.\u00a0<\/p>\n Another CEO relies on the opinions of cab drivers for hiring decisions. Duolingo CEO Luis von Ahn told The Burnouts podcast<\/a> in February that he pays taxi drivers extra to share how a job candidate treated them on the ride to the interview. The driver\u2019s opinion can make or break an offer.\u00a0<\/p>\n Yet another CEO uses the breakfast table as a testing ground. Former Charles Schwab CEO Walt Bettinger once told The New York Times<\/a> that he would take candidates out to breakfast and secretly ask the staff to mess up their order, just to see how they handled it. He wanted to watch their real-time reaction to an annoying setback and see how they dealt with inconveniences.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just another way to get a look inside their heart rather than their head,\u201d Bettinger told the Times.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Treating everyone well, from the cab driver to the receptionist, could be the secret that helps you land your next job.\u00a0<\/p>\nWhy Southwest cares so much about culture fit<\/h2>\n
Other unwritten hiring tests<\/h2>\n
Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n
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